Greylord Witnesses Called Liars

October 01, 1988|By John Gorman.

Associate Judge Daniel Glecier of Cook County Circuit Court paid bribes as a defense attorney and received them as a judge, a federal prosecutor charged Friday, but Glecier`s attorney described the prosecution witnesses as liars who ``just didn`t make sense.``

Sheldon Zenner, an assistant U.S. attorney, charged that Glecier paid prosecutors to fix cases from 1976 until 1979, when he became a judge. After Glecier joined the bench and some of the prosecutors entered private practice, Glecier began accepting bribes from the same attorneys he formerly had bribed, Zenner said.

Glecier and two others-former Associate Judge Francis Maher and attorney David Dineff-are on trial in U.S. District Court on Operation Greylord charges.

During the second day of closing arguments to the jury, Zenner cited the testimony of Joseph McDermott, a lawyer convicted earlier on Greylord charges. McDermott said he had an arrangement to refer cases to Glecier and for Glecier to return the favor.

Zenner said McDermott had testified that the bribes he paid to judges were deducted as costs from the referral payments he sent to Glecier.

But Glecier`s attorney, Robert Tarun, attacked the credibility of McDermott, citing testimony that the charges against McDermott were reduced after he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

``Joe McDermott went from a possible 23 years in prison to a year and a day, in spite of fixing 200-plus cases before Judge (John) McCollom,`` Tarun said. McCollom was convicted on Greylord charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

``McDermott talked about Dan Glecier, but to his credit, he said that he never gave Judge Glecier a dime,`` said Tarun, recalling McDermott`s testimony that he paid off two judges who are now dead. ``Don`t you think he would have bribed Judge Glecier? It doesn`t make sense.``

But, Zenner countered that if prosecution witnesses had lied to stay out of jail, then McDermott ``would have said he gave money to Dan Glecier, too.`` Tarun decribed another prosecution witness, James J. Costello as a

``scatter-brain (who) one minute said this and the next minute said that . . . A guy who said that every policeman is on the take.``

Costello had testified that when he was a prosecutor in 1976, he accepted bribes on at least 10 occasions from Glecier, then a defense attorney. Costello said that later, he paid Glecier $100 on two occasions after Glecier became a judge in 1979.

``He took bribes to let drug dealers go free,`` Tarun said, referring to Costello`s admission that he accepted bribes while a prosecutor in Narcotics Court.

Costello was sentenced to 8 years in prison in 1986, but that sentence was reduced to 6 years several weeks ago after he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Maher, 73, is charged with taking bribes while a judge in the 5th Municipal District, in the south suburbs.

Dineff, 37, is charged with paying bribes to judges who ``steered unrepresented clients to him.``